Orlando Mass Shooting Struck A Gay Sanctuary

"If you can't wrap your head around a bar or club as a sanctuary, you've probably never been afraid to hold someone's hand in public," wrote Jeramey Kraatz in one of the more asture of social media quotes that has swept the internet since the mass murder of 49 people at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida.

That first step inside a gay bar, that first kiss between two girls, that first sighting of a trans or drag performer, are rites of passage for most of us, whether magical or awkward. It's a part of coming out and coming of age.

But for two men, one who shot 100 people, killing half of them in Orlando, and another who was caught before bombing Los Angeles Pride, their own internalized homophobia turned outward to violence.

What they may not have expected was the resultant outpouring of compassion and anger from around the world.

Homophobia and Tragedy
Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22, and his 32-year-old boyfriend, Christopher "Drew" Leinonen, were among the 49 people who lost their lives June 12 in one of the worst mass shootings in American history.

As reported by JoeMyGod, services still need to be planned by the distraught families, but they want the two to be side-by-side when loved ones bid farewell, said Guerrero's father, who has the same name as his son.

"I think my son wanted to do that. That's why," the elder Juan Ramon Guerrero, 61, said through tears. "I don't care what the people think. I don't care."